Foreign Journalists in Nigeria

One factor that is seldom looked at in the way Nigeria is represented and branded is the influence of foreign journalists based here. Without naming names, my experience meeting people that work as the Nigeria rep for large well-known media organisations is not a wholesome one:
1. They regard themselves as heroes for coming to a place like Nigeria
2. They only report bad stuff
3. When quizzed about this, they respond by guffing on about how difficult it is to achieve "balance"
4. Once their one or two year stint is over, they go back to the UK and lord it over everyone with their "insights" into Africa, joining organisations such as Chatham House or doing that posh MA at the Institute of War Studies or whatever its called
5. Most of them have lived cossetted lives (from Home Counties upbringing to public school etc). Their idea of going to Africa is on a par with the Karen Blixen ideal
6. The upshot: nothing changes - the image of Africa as a land of helpless victims continues.
Without wishing to tar everyone with the same brush, these people are in general the sink estate of the 4th estate and are to be avoided. If you read their stories in the papers, please sprinkle lots of salt on top. Part of the point of my blog is to counterbalance all the stuff they write.